Heart of Innocence
by Isisthatcan
Summary: A ranger has the Heart of Innocence; and with it the power of immortal life... A power that a new evil is desperate to get their hands on...
1. Chapter 1

Heart of Innocence

_A ranger has the Heart of Innocence; and with it the power of immortal life... A power that a new evil is desperate to get their hands on..._

AN: I've had an amazing response to this story on PRUnited and have finally gotten the time to post it here. Due to circumstances outside of the staff's control the forum is going to be down for another week or so and because I've finally finished writing this and only have the last few chapters to post I thought I'd catch everybody up on here. This story is also the reason why my other stories have been so rarely updated as this became my baby and practically took over my life (in addition to all the other things in life that are necessary like eating, sleeping, family and work). My other stories will by updated soon. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I've enjoyed writing it. And since it is already written I can – for once! – guarantee quick updates. And this is probably the longest author's not I've ever written in my life...

Chapter One

Dana closed her eyes and waited for the elevator to stop. It had been one of those days and all she wanted now was to go home and have a long soak in her bath. There were some days when Dana really hated her job; the days when she couldn't help a patient, and when that patient was an eight-year old child, it just made it all the worse. It was the cases like this that made her question how much one person could really help.

Sighing as the elevator came to a stop she opened her eyes and straightened her shoulders. Getting depressed would not help her through this. And it would not help her help the family through it either. She wouldn't give up, no matter what. She just had to go home, clear her head and come back tomorrow ready to start over.

Letting the other people in the elevator exit first Dana slowly made her way to the hospital exit, letting the crowds disperse around her, people milling about all over the place. Crossing her arms across her chest, her bag hanging from her wrist, Dana hunched her shoulders in preparation for the cold winter wind that had been terrorizing Mariner Bay lately. Finally leaving the hospital, Dana already felt her day's worries leaving her. In her first hospital internship her mentor doctor had told her that a trick of being one of the most successful paediatricians was to be able to disassociate yourself from your work. So in that first year Dana had taught herself to only think work thoughts when she was at a hospital. It didn't always work, but it helped.

Walking towards the bus stop Dana had a momentary flash of annoyance followed by a rush of affection. If her car ever got fixed she swore to herself that she'd never lend it to Joel again. Ryan had rung her earlier saying he'd come pick her up but Dana had told him she didn't know what time she'd be finished and that she'd just get the bus. He'd protested, saying he'd be more comfortable coming to pick her up but Dana had simply said that it wasn't like she couldn't take care of herself. He'd reluctantly agreed at that point, which led to Dana currently standing at the stop waiting for the bus.

The wind roared suddenly, a gust knocking into Dana almost making her fall. Just catching her balance at the last second Dana managed to avoid landing on her butt. Shivering violently, she dropped her bag beside her side, her blue eyes alert and scanning her surroundings. Something wasn't right.

The wind picked up again and as it rocked into Dana something else accompanied it. The next thing she knew someone had their hand clamped around her throat and a freezing numbing sensation rapidly crept down her body, leaving her as frozen as a statue.

"Do you have it?" A rough voice growled. "For your sake I hope you do. Otherwise you'll have died in vain."

The sharp point of a knife slide into her chest, just below her heart.

Dana gasped, tried to make a sound but nothing happened. She couldn't do anything. Her eyes widened in fear as she felt cold liquid run down her skin. The knife dug deeper.

"Your heart is... mine." The raspy voice growled.

"DANA!"

Falling backwards Dana was aware of a silver flash and a howl so fierce-some and ghostly, that it shook her very soul. Then the waiting eternal darkness claimed her.


	2. Chapter 2

Heart of Innocence

A ranger has the Heart of Innocence; and with it the power of immortal life... A power that a new evil is desperate to get their hands on...

AN: Oops... I should've warned you guys that the first few chapters jump around quite a bit, to set the scene.

_Warning: Rated for implied violence._

Chapter Two

Maya smiled as she padded down the street, the earth feeling as sturdy and fresh under her feet as always. She was in a very good mood today, and was eager to spread her good news. Which was why she was here, heading towards the gardens. Kendrix would be there, doing another one of her experiments.

As she headed towards her friend's greenhouse, as she called it, Maya slowed slightly. The earth felt different here, cold and brittle somehow. And she slowly approached the greenhouse, to which she could now see the door was slightly ajar, the feeling of the cold earth only got worse.

Reaching out a trembling hand Maya pushed open the door, a gust of wind billowing out forcing her backwards. What she saw next made her scream.

A scream which was echoed some twenty years in the future.

Z covered her mouth as she fell backwards, wanting to get as far away as she could from the scene which was now permanently burned into her memory.

"Z?! What's wrong?" Bridge came bounding up to her as Sky ran around the corner.

Z's terrified eyes flickered in the direction of Syd's room before she turned and threw herself down the corridor. As Bridge entered Syd's room, Sky intercepted Z. Crushing her against his chest, Sky held Z tightly as she shook violently, her sobs freezing everyone who could hear them down the corridor.

Bridge slowly walked back out of Syd's room, his face pale and his shoulder's drooped. Lifting his head he managed to meet Sky's frantic eyes, who hadn't moved from his position of holding Z, to confirm what they had both feared when Z had screamed.

"She's dead Sky." Bridge's whisper travelled the whole of the SPD headquarters, a stillness accompanying it that marked the passing of a dearly loved friend.

In one galaxy at two points of time, two pink rangers lay still and cold, their blonde hair fanned about them, their blue eyes frozen wide open, and their hearts cut from their chests.


	3. Chapter 3

Heart of Innocence

A ranger has the Heart of Innocence; and with it the power of immortal life... A power that a new evil is desperate to get their hands on...

Chapter Three

Rose grinned at the guy in front of her as she handed back his paper, waiting for his response. His eyes shifted downwards and quickly scanned vertically along the paper until his face lit up, obviously finding his mark.

"Congratulations Robbie, that was a brilliant paper. Your effort and hard work really showed."

"Th-Thanks." The guy stammered before he moved off, bumping into tables as he went as he was still staring at his mark.

Rose shook her head and went to pack her bag up, she had another lecture to give in an hour and she needed to drop off this bag and pick up her other one. As she moved her papers she accidently knocked a book onto the floor. Placing the papers into a pile Rose shook her head and mumbled about the 'Dax effect', then she bent and picked up the book. It was titled "Obscure Myths of the Urban Celtic" and Rose's curiosity was immediately piqued. 'Urban Celtic'? There were no urban Celts in history; in fact such a thing couldn't exist. The Celts didn't have cities or metropolitan civilisations.

Flicking the book open, Rose scanned the introduction until she found what could be an explanation. The book spoke of an obscure cult of Celtics who formed a city to protect a power magic. All traces of them had been wiped from history except for a few obscure myths and the odd reference here and there in ancient civilisation's documents. Rose thought briefly on this, thinking that it could be possible, although it was highly unlikely.

Seeing that there was a page marked further in the book, Rose flipped it open to the new page and started reading a myth about the legendary 'Heart of Innocence'.


	4. Chapter 4

Heart of Innocence

A ranger has the Heart of Innocence; and with it the power of immortal life... A power that a new evil is desperate to get their hands on...

Chapter Four

"Alright guys! That's it for today! I want you all to do some more practice for tomorrow's session, and to meditate for at least an hour on how you could've improved your performance today." As the group of leather students turned to leave, some of them grumbling, the blonde woman called back to them "And I'll know if you haven't!"

The grumbling students groaned louder but a few of the others laughed as the group dispersed, leaving the teacher to pack up her belongings on her own. She steadily packed up the batons and cloths into a sturdy leather bag, her long hair falling into her face several times. Just as she was about to pick up the bag and leave the woman froze, her entire body still, listening.

The wind echoed nearby, the trees rustled in the breeze and the sounds of a waterfall could be heard not far away but the woman didn't respond to any of these sounds. She just remains absolutely stock still until she heard the smallest of sounds, a light whimper.

And then she was moving, streaking faster than she had ever done before, arriving at a scene that would have made any normal person baulk. A hooded man, dressed top to bottom in black material, was holding a brown-haired woman by the throat, her feet dangling motionless a few inches off the ground. In his right hand he held a long twisted knife, with a metallic black handle and blood-red ruby encrusted hilt. The knife was pressed into the brunette's chest, just below where her heart was.

"Hey!"

Tori didn't wait for her shout to register or for the guy to try to back off; she just slammed straight into him, in full ninja streak, knocking him backwards from Marah. The man screeched, a mixture of a high pitch cry and a raspy growl, letting loose a scream the chilled Tori to the core. As he returned to his feet, Tori regained her composure, standing in-between this man and Marah, who hadn't moved or made a sound since she was dropped to the ground.

"Do not get in my way girl." His voice rasped, moving slowly closer to Tori.

Tori backed up a step, but only to get into fighting stance, as she raised her fists she replied "I'm not gonna let you hurt my friend. And besides you really don't wanna fight me."

"I do not care who I have to fight. I will get the heart!"

With his last word the man sprang forwards. Tori tensed, ready to defend herself when his blow came but it never did. The man was pushed backwards again by three coloured blurs.

"You need to leave. Now." Shane said as he came to stand next to Tori, Dustin and Cam on her other side.

The man let out a creature-like growl and screamed "This is not over!" before he vanished in a gust of wind that knocked all four ninja rangers over.

"Who was that? What did he want?" Cam asked as he got to his feet.

"Did he hurt you?" Shane asked as he helped Tori to her feet.

"Marah!" Dustin scrabbled to his feet and threw himself next to the still form of the ninja student, Tori, Cam and Shane not but a second behind.

"What happened?" Shane asked, his voice harsh and insistent. "Tori?"

"I don't know." Tori stared down at the still form of her friend "I just got here and I saw him holding her up off the ground-"

"Cam, she's hurt! Look she's bleeding." Dustin pointed to her chest from where he cradled Marah's head in his arms.

"-and he had a knife to her chest." Tori finished " I thought I knocked him back when I pushed him away from her." Her voice getting smaller as she spoke, watching as Cam checked for other injuries.

"This wasn't your fault." Shane said gently "It was the madman who was trying to hurt her. Did he say what he wanted?"

"She's so cold." Dustin whispered worriedly, stroking Marah's cheek lightly "It's not right for a person to be this cold."

"I can't tell the extent of her injuries here, we need to get her back to Ninja Ops. Now." Cam moved to scoop Marah's legs whilst Dustin shifted to get a better hold on Marah's shoulders without jilting her too much. The two of them left, carefully cradling Marah between them. Shane turned to follow, stopping a few feet away when he realised that Tori was standing still, with no look of going to move after them.

"Tor?"

"I just remembered... what he said..."

"Tori?" Shane moved closer to his friend, reaching out to touch her shoulder gently.

"He said he wanted her heart."


	5. Chapter 5

Heart of Innocence

A ranger has the Heart of Innocence; and with it the power of immortal life... A power that a new evil is desperate to get their hands on...

Chapter Five

"And there was no warning? Nothing to indicate what was going to happen?" Tommy ran his hands through his hair, his eyes scrunched up as he tried to think.

" No. We did not even know there was an intruder. He must have been very powerful to escape detection by our defences." Sensei Wantanabe's slow voice replied over the computer link.

"How's Marah doing now?" Hayley asked, her hand briefly settling on Tommy's to give it a slight squeeze.

"She is warmer, that is the only difference we have been able to determine although Cam did manage to slow the bleeding."

"Which is only drawing out the inevitable I'm afraid. Unless we can find some way of stopping the blood loss completely and improving her breathing and body temperature-" Cam sighed, his face ashen and his eyes dull "I don't know how to help her. I've never seen a wound like this before."

"Well you're not alone anymore. We're here to help." Hayley said, smiling comfortingly.

"And we won't be the only ones. This just doesn't sit right with me. I'm gonna call and let some other rangers know. The Dino lot already know and I'm pretty sure Kira's on her way to you right now to see Marah and help Tori. As soon as we know anything more we'll let you know immediately."

"Thank you Tommy." Sensei said, a smile finally appearing on his worried face, although it was nowhere near what it usually was.

The screen went blank and Tommy pushed himself out of his chair to start pacing behind the computer platform. Hayley swivelled in her chair to watch him.

"Do you have something in mind Tommy? A plan here? Because we're really working in the dark here. There's never been a situation where all rangers need to be involved." Hayley spoke, a worried frown creasing her forehead.

"No, let's not tell everybody yet. Just a few from each team, get everybody's whereabouts and news that way first. If we try and do this as quietly as possible then maybe we won't get spotted that we're trying to marshal the troops."

" You think somebody will be watching rangers?"

"I don't know Hayley. I just know this really doesn't feel right. Can you send the first messages? I need to go make a call."

"Sure. Start off with first red and then work the way down chronologically?"

"Yeah. Just like we planned for emergencies."

"Who are you going to be calling?"

"Someone who I have a hunch will be able to help. You may have heard of him, he's an explorer by the name of Andrew Hartford."


	6. Chapter 6

Heart of Innocence

A ranger has the Heart of Innocence; and with it the power of immortal life... A power that a new evil is desperate to get their hands on...

Chapter Six

Spencer walked slowly towards the front door, knowing eh should at least give Andrew a few seconds of just being glad to be home before he dropped a very large bombshell on him. The first thing he heard however was not his Hartford Senior's voice, but Hartford Junior's.

"That was brilliant Dad! The way you figured out that trap door was there! Are there any other Mayan pyramids we can go look at?"

"Mack! Mack. We've just got home! Don't you want a few days of rest and relaxation before we go trotting off all over the globe again?" Laughter could clearly be heard in Andrew's voice as he addressed his son.

"Who needs to relax when we could be off having an adventure?" Mack responded.

"Me. That's who! Now go unpack. I'm going to find Spencer to tell him we're back."

"Because you're assuming he doesn't already know."

Andrew just laughed at that and Spencer heard one set of footsteps ascending the stairs whilst another walked towards him, where he was hidden by a turn in the corridor. As Andrew approached he decided to let his presence be known.

"I'm afraid Master Mack was correct, sir. I did already know you had returned."

"Argh! Spencer!"

"Yes sir?"

"Don't do that! You really shouldn't sneak up on people."

"Excusing your pardon sir, but I wasn't sneaking." Spencer said huffily.

"Alright well, try to not do that again, okay? You almost gave me a heart attack."

"Nonsense sir."

Andrew chuckled "Have you enjoyed your little break from us? I notice the geraniums are flourishing nicely in the front garden."

"Yes, they are. And I'd appreciate very much if you or Master Mack did not do anything that would cause them to stop flourishing."

"Spencer, are you suggesting that Mack or I-"

"As much as I'd like to discuss what you do that affects my geraniums I'm afraid we don't have time sir. There is an urgent response call waiting for you."

Andrew frowned "An urgent call? From who?"

"A Dr. Thomas Oliver. He said you would know what it was about and that you were to call him as soon as possible."

"Thomas Oliver..." Andrew muttered to himself, looking slightly distracted "Tommy Oliver? Spencer, do you have the number?" he continued, his voice suddenly brisk and business-like.

"Of course sir." Spencer replied, watching Andrew carefully.

"Then set up the call."

Less then two minutes later, Andrew was staring at the strained face of Dr. Tommy Oliver.

"Dr. Oliver, how can I be of assistance?"

"I need to speak to you about a matter of great urgency and importance." Tommy began but his eyes flickered to where Spencer was standing in the background "In private."

"Whatever you need to say can be said in front of Spencer Dr. Oliver. I trust him with my life."

"How about other people's lives?" Tommy shot back. "People you care about, family for instance? Or complete strangers?"

"In a heartbeat." Andrew responded, a slight edge to his voice.

Tommy nodded, some of the tension relaxing from his face "Good. What we need to discuss is a series of attacks that has been happening to rangers and their allies."

"Attacks?"

Tommy nodded again "Yes. So far we know of one deceased victim and one attacked, but I haven't heard from a number of my ranger contacts, we could be looking at a much bigger threat here."

"Deceased victim?" Andrew said softly, his voice almost catching. When had he heard last from his rangers? Could it be one of them?

"Yes, the pink galaxy ranger, Kendrix, was killed by the same M.O. that a ranger ally, a ninja student called Marah was attacked. Marah survived but she's still in a critical condition. But like I said I haven't heard from a number of my sources, there could be other casualties or fatalities out there."

Andrew nodded, feeling terrible for the loss of a ranger – and also slightly guilty for feeling relieved that it wasn't one of his own. Turning slightly he addressed Spencer quietly before turning back to Tommy.

"Contact the rangers, find out there whereabouts and then get them here." Spencer nodded and rushed off to another console "o we have any idea who's behind this? What they want?"

Tommy shook his head "At the minute we barely have enough information to get a good description of whoever it is."

Andrew nodded, thinking to himself. Seeing a flashing light on his console his frown deepened suddenly. "Dr. Oliver would you mind going on hold for a minute?"

"Hold?" Tommy looked baffled "You want to put me on hold?"

"Yes, just for a moment. I have another call waiting that I think may help with this."

Tommy frowned, not looking convinced but before he could object further Andrew continued "As soon as you and I had finished talking I had intended to ring someone and get their opinion on this. I find it highly coincidental that she is ringing me out of the blue as we are talking about this. I assure you if it is not for anything related to this crisis I shall send them my apologies and return to you immediately. If not then we may have some more information on our hands."

"Very well." Tommy conceded, hoping he hadn't just lost another ranger some valuable time. His screen went blank for a few minutes, giving Tommy time to think. All in all, Andrew Hartford didn't seem like a bad choice as a mentor for a ranger team. He had heard good things about the Operation Overdrive team and he hoped they would be able to help in this latest ranger crisis. And that none of his rangers would turn out to be another victim...

Tommy's screen suddenly sprang to life and Tommy was greeted by the very serious and grim expression of Andrew Hartford.

"I don't want to say this next information over a channel. Can we meet?"


	7. Chapter 7

Heart of Innocence

A ranger has the Heart of Innocence; and with it the power of immortal life... A power that a new evil is desperate to get their hands on...

Chapter Seven

Hayley scrambled around Cyberspace as if the President was visiting, moving anything that even looked as if it could be out of place. Watching her Tommy felt the corners of his mouth tug into a smile; his first one since all this began.

"Hayley will you please stop worrying? They're going to be here to discuss ranger business, not fill out a questionnaire on how clean your cafe is."

"Listen mister, you were the one who invited them here, so you are the one who has to put up with my cleaning wrath. Deal with it."

Tommy couldn't help but chuckle at her words, although two seconds and a glare from Hayley later, he found himself regretting it.

"Seeing as you're just sitting there Thomas, you can do me the honour of mopping-"

"Oh look, the guests!" Tommy said hurriedly, jumping to his feet as Sensei Wantanabe and Shane entered the cafe.

"Coward." Hayley muttered as Tommy went to greet them.

"Sensei, Shane," Tommy greeted, immediately sobering at the mix of confused, worried and angry emotions on their faces. "How's Marah?"

"No better." Shane said shortly, the anger clear in his voice.

"But she is no worse." Sensei spoke calmly, directing a look towards Shane "For which we must be grateful."

Shane nodded, the anger disappearing from his face, although Tommy suspected he had locked it away rather than let go of it.

"Please come and sit down, I'm sure we won't have to wait long till our other guests arrive." Tommy motioned to the counter and the chairs and tables behind him "Is there anything you want to eat or drink?"

"No thank you Tommy."

"You should eat something Sensei." Shane said from where he was pacing the cafe.

"If you do." Came the old man's reply.

"I'm sure we won't have to wait long-" Tommy began before he was interrupted by the arrival of two men, one around his age and another older. The older gentleman was berating the other man who was with him.

"Really sir, Master Mack is perfectly capable of going to a shop by himself. Besides we are running late."

"That wasn't what I meant Spencer and you know it."

"Of course it wasn't sir. I misunderstood you completely when you said that you'd accompany him 'just in case anything happens'."

"Mr Hartford?" Tommy interrupted as the two men neared.

The younger of the two men, who had dark brown hair and eyes, stepped forward, smiling warmly.

"Yes. Dr. Oliver I presume?"

"Yes. Good to meet you. This Sensei Wantanabe and Shane Clark, they are with the ninja storm ranger team."

"It was your friend who was one of the ones attacked wasn't it?" Andrew asked gently.

"Yes, a student of my school who is also my niece." Sensei replied, his voice grave.

"I'm very sorry to hear that." Andrew said.

"Tommy said you had some information about why she was attacked." Shane said suddenly.

"Yes, I do." Andrew said, taken aback by Shane's brusque tone.

"Then where is it?"

"Shane," Sensei admonished "I know you are worried for Marah but being rude to those who may help us is not our way. You must excuse him Mr Hartford."

"It's totally understandable. I was just going to wait for everyone to get here so I didn't have to explain things twice."

"Everyone?" Tommy asked as Hayley arrived with some drinks "There are others coming? I was under the impression it would just be us."

"I invited my ranger team," Andrew said "They also needed to know what is going on and I wanted to tell you as soon as possible so I thought it best for us all to meet together, instead of wasting time saying the same thing twice."

"Is time an issue here?" Hayley asked.

Andrew looked around to her and was about to answer when Tommy answered "Oh, and this is Hayley Viktor. She's one of the finest computer analysts on the planet and is the main technical advisor for the Dino Thunder ranger team."

"Nice to meet you," Andrew said, nodding at her "And in answer to your question, yes. These attacks aren't random, and they will increase before they stop. I wish I could tell you more on this but that's about all I know."

"That's all you can tell us?" Shane asked.

"That's all I can yes, but one of my rangers can tell you a lot more." Turning to Tommy Andrew continued "When you rang me do you remember I had to take another call? Yes, well I'm sorry for that but I found it highly coincidental that the person who I was going to ring to ask about this was ringing me when you were and I was correct. Rose, the pink overdrive ranger, is an intellectual marvel for her age and it's her who knows why all these attacks are happening. As I said she and the other rangers are meeting us here."

Just as Andrew finished talking two young men walked into the cafe, one with blonde hair and silver eyes and the other an Asian, who was animatedly talking about a pair of sunglasses he was wearing.

"Aren't they so cool? I mean, can imagine how good we would've looked morphing with these?!"

"Fantastic Dax," came the dry reply from another newcomer, entering behind them "The ladies wouldn't have been able to stay away from us." The young black man caught up with them as the three walked over to join the group of assembled people.

"How would that work anyway?" Tyzonn asked as they came to a stop.

"Gentlemen," Andrew interrupted "If we could please focus here. I'd like to introduce you to Sensei Wantanabe, and Shane Clark, from the ninja ranger team and Dr. Tommy Oliver and Hayley Viktor, of the Dino ranger team. This is Will, Tyzonn and Dax, the black, mercury and blue overdrive rangers respectively. Oh, and this is Spencer, our sort-of technical assistant."

"Sort of? That's a bit mean Mr Hartford," Said a female voice from the door as Spencer huffed "Without Spencer we wouldn't have use of our zords half of the time."

"Why thank you Miss Rose," the butler replied as the young woman walked over to join the others."

"This is Rose, the lady I was talking about," Andrew said to the ninja and dino representatives "Rose this is-"

"I heard your first introductions Mr Hartford. Dr. Oliver, Sensei Wantanbe," Rose inclined her head towards each man respectively "It's an honour to meet you both. Your contributions to the ranger history books have been amazing."

"We've heard that you're the one to help us." Tommy said, folding his arms across his chest "Do you know why rangers are being attacked and killed?"

Rose bit her lip slightly but then nodded determinedly "Yes I do. It's all because of an ancient Celtic myth and a man known as Faulkos."

And as the pink overdrive ranger began to tell those gathered of the danger facing them, the man known as Faulkos watched a young brown-haired woman, rushing down an alleyway on her way to meet them, not but two blocks away...


End file.
